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Cincinnati Zoo deletes Twitter account amid floods of Harambe spam

CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Zoo deactivated its official Twitter account Monday night after its director pleaded with the public to stop spamming zoo social media with Harambe memes.

"We are not amused by the memes, petitions and signs about Harambe," Thane Maynard, Cincinnati Zoo director, told the Associated Press. (Maynard's personal Twitter account was hacked
Sunday and briefly repurposed in service of the Harambe meme agenda.) "Our zoo family is still healing, and the constant mention of Harambe makes moving forward more difficult for us. We are honoring Harambe by redoubling our gorilla conservation efforts and encouraging others to join us."

Maybe zoo officials should have known better than to show weakness in front of a predator as relentless, well-adapted and rich in free time as the internet troll. Maybe they should have known that their well-intentioned offerings of animal trivia, conservationist messages and cute baby giraffe pictures
had been laid on the altar of a digital god that only wanted one thing.